Three
by Fawn of the woods
Summary: Another chunnin exam, with a loud mouth, and jester and a quiet one. Part of my Naruto Series. set 5 months after he leave Konoha, oneshot


Part of my series

First story: True Friends Truly Believe /s/3953609/1/

Previous: "Hope is Waiting and Caring" /s/4340138/1/

This is before the Hawk and the Fox

**_Disclaimer_**: don't own

for the description of Uzu Orenji's face refer to the face Naruto tries to use at the beginning of the 2nd episode for his official shinobi picture. That was my basic inspiration.

* * *

**_Three_**

The village bustled merrily. Tsunade smiled as she walked to the center of Kumogakura. The Village Hidden in the Clouds was the host of the Chunnin Exams for this half year and Tsunade had accepted the invitation to come a watch. In addition, Konoha had a few genin involved in this exam. The rules here were that everyone enter as an individual and they were put into random teams. Of her village, she was coming for Inuzuka Kiba, Shimonji Hiro, and her own student, Haruno Sakura. Both Kiba and Sakura had been absent during the exam that had granted chunnin status to the rest of the recently-named Konoha eleven. Tsunade smiled, Naruto would have had a fit, thinking everyone had forgotten about Sasuke, which would have made it Konoha twelve. There was another reason she was here. Konoha was supporting one other shinobi. He went under the name Uzu Orenji. She hoped he would pass and join his comrades in being a chunnin.

Tsunade sighed and continued to walk down the lane. _We shall see, shan't we_.

000

Sakura sighed. She had left her sensei at the entrance to this building. She remembered the last chunnin exam she was in. Yikes. She really hoped this one would be less traumatic than that one, not that she thought it was possible to be more so. In the last chunnin exam, they were nearly killed, Sasuke got bitten by Orochi no baka, the Sand attacked, and, oh yes, she didn't pass. It was a mess.

She was climbing the stair in the building where she had to register. She was looking for room 406. It was a confusing building, with the stair going around and around, with a line of rooms in the center and on the outside. At first she wondered if someone was playing a Genjutsu on her, but she had already ruled that out. This village wasn't her favorite one. Kumogakura shinobi had been her enemies on too many missions and this brought back too many unpleasant memories.

Suddenly she heard a commotion behind her. She heard a group of boys run up the stairs.

"Move it, Pinky!"

"Get outta our way, Girlie!" Suddenly, she was shoved backwards down the stair as the three boys ran by. She screeched at them as she stepped back to find her balance. She accidently forgot that the step behind her was down. As her hands scrambled the smooth wall for a hand hold, she began to turn to land safely when an arm wrapped around her waist. She heard a yell echo her own.

"Hey! You jerks should apologize to this young lady!" Sakura looked up to see the strangest person holding her waist. He seemed to be about the same height as she was, though it was hard to tell from this angle. His long spiky hair was firey orange with red tips, which spray every which way. His normal shinobi pants and muscle shirt was covered by a half trench coat that came to the back of his knees. It was white with red flames along the bottom. His face, however, was what was most bizarre. His face was white with a red, orange, and yellow design on it. They were lines around his eyes, nose and chin. They had swirls on his cheeks and forehead. He was glaring at the boys, which made it all the more startling.

The boys, who had stopped angrily at Sakura's blistering screech, had turned and were all the more enraged at the newcomer's demand. He set Sakura gently on her feet as they postured on the stair, their previous rush forgotten.

"Who are you to yell at us? I'll have you know we are shinobi of Kumogakura, about to be chunnin!" The newcomer stood proudly.

"I am Uzu Orenji of Konoha. I am also testing to become a chunnin. You should apologize when you knock someone over!" Sakura looked at the shinobi who was apparently from the same village as she. She remembered Tsunade mentioning another shinobi coming from Konoha under a different name and look that Sakura shouldn't recognize, but still... _This_!

000

Yuuki sighed as she entered the registration room. There were a lot of shinobi in the room. Oh well. It wasn't as if she was looking for someone. Her village-mates didn't want to see her. She was here on suffrage. She shook her head. This was no time to be feeling sorry for herself. She was standing in the back corner of a room that was getting more crowded by the moment. She hated crowds.

The room was fairly large, mostly filled with desks. It had a chalkboard at the front and chairs along the wall. There were mostly Kumo shinobi, no surprise there, it was their village. She saw a handful of her own village's shinobi. She saw an additional couple dozen shinobi from various villages. She sighed as she waited. She turned her head in the direction of a commotion from the hallway. Suddenly, two of her village-mates crashed in through the doorway. They were followed by a boy with the most bizarre facial paint. He was shouting something about them respecting the opposite sex. She assumed the jerks had done something to the pink-haired girl behind his shoulder. She smirked. They were annoying to say the least, she wasn't sorry they had gotten in trouble. The boy growled at them and then went to another corner, opposite hers and sulked. The girl waved her thanks then went to join the other two leaf shinobi. Yuuki shook her head, then stood. the proctor had just arrived.

She was a thin, stern woman. Her eyes showed her to be precise and agile. Went to a board and tacked up two pieces of papers. She came back to the center of the front of the room. Tapping her stick down on the front desk, she spoke in a clear cutting voice.

"You all have assigned seats, go to them. 2 minutes!" There was a flurry of motion as people raced to find their seats. Yuuki didn't rush, that tended to use extra energy. Instead she calmly waded through the mess, looked at her spot, then leaped over the crowd to get to it. She slipped into her seat easily and waited. most of them got to their seats. Roughly a half dozen didn't and were grabbed by Kumo Shinobi and tossed to the front of the room. The woman looked down at them as she informed them that they didn't make it. The rest of them sat in their seats. The woman went back to her position. Yuuki figured it was time to start.

"Hello to all of you. I am Hisane Kiira, your protoctor for the three portions of the exam. The other portions will be explained as you get to them. This portion will consist of a written test. You will have three questions. You must answer them all correctly. At the top of your paper will be your name and group number. These shinobi will watch you for cheating. After the second time you are caught, you will be expelled. Those remaining team members will have to continue without you. Your group consists of three people randomly chosen. After this test you will have a 15 minute break while the papers are graded. After the results are announced, those of you who passed will move on to the second test." While she had been talking, the other shinobi had placed a sheet of paper in front of every genin in the room. Yuuki placed her hand to turn it over and waited for the signal to begin.

000

Sakura looked at the questions in front of her. There were three questions like the proctor said.

1. What is your name and team number?

2. Name your other team members in the room.

3. Give the name and team number of 4 shinobi more than two seats away, without 4 of them finding out yours.

The first one was easy, it was on the top of her paper. The next two were the real test. Apparently information gathering was something all the villages agreed that the new chunnin needed to be able to do. However this test was setup differently than Konoha's. This one focused on individual skills, rather than a team working together. She just sighed and started.

000

Yuuki sighed. She one more person to go. So far she had been lucky. Her ice shards were acting as mirrors. She had located her teammates; Uzu Orenji, and Hui Hiroto. Together they made up team 12. She saw that Orenji had finished his questions. Hiroto was in the same boat as she, still with another name to find. She smiled as she realized. She didn't need another name. She had two she hadn't used, her teammates. She smirked as she wrote down the rest of the answers and waited, studying her teammates.

Orenji was a Konoha goof-ball. He was spending his time waiting by drawing on the back of his paper random doodles. His outfit was as atrocious as his hair and face, but her experience was that people who did that knew how to hide even with the visual handicap. He was medium height, muscled but lean. His smile was infectious and mischievous.

Hiroto was similarly loud, though it was more-so in personality than in appearance. Although he did have flaming red hair, the rest of his outfit was pretty standard shinobi outfit of black pants and muscle shirt with green over shirt. He was sitting back on his chair, smiling confidently. His superior look was getting under her skin. He glanced around the room casually. She shook her head slightly, this was going to be interesting.

000

After they had all gathered the tests, the grading began and the contestants waited. They had lost 8 people due to cheating thus leaving 58 people left. Yuuki calculated that since there were 66 genin to begin with, there must have been 22 teams. It was highly unlikely that anyone had been left alone yet. Yuuki wandered back to her corner as people got together with their village-mates or met their teammates. Yuuki wasn't inclined to do that, since it would probably be the next step regardless. She would wait.

She didn't have to wait long as Orenji came over. He plopped himself in front of her and smiled.

"Hi! I'm Uzu Orenji. You probably already knew that, since we're teammates." His hand went behind his head as he spoke. His other hand soon joined it to weave the fingers as he talked. "Anyway, I'm from Konoha, well sort of. See I've been gone for quite a while. That's why I'm here, I'm sick of being genin. How about you?" His smile was wider than his face in Yuuki's opinion. She sighed and gave him some conversation.

"I'm Tsukiryuu Yuuki, from Kirigakura. I've been a genin for two years." Her voice was gentle but wary. They both looked up when the third member of their team leaned against the wall.

"Hi there. I'm Hiu Hiroto, from Suna. What's up?" His jovial attitude was irritating, but slightly comforting. She found both their smiles infectious. Sighing, he sat down.

000

Sakura sighed when the proctor returned. She had announced the 24 who hadn't passed. Sakura didn't know any of them. She had used the time to meet her teammates. She knew both of them. Kiba and Temari were friends that she could work with. Besides, their abilities complimented each other nicely. She smiled as they all walked out to follow the proctor, who had just leaped out of the window.

000

Tsunade sat gently in the park. If there was one thing Kumogakura did have, it was great veiws. She sighed as she felt herself joined by her friend.

"How do you think he'll do?"

"Gaki learned well. He'll do find. What about yours? Your apprentice is in there." Tsunade smiled as she looked at Jiraiya.

"She'll do fine. I wonder if she'll recognize him. You said his disguise was perfect, right?" He smiled at Tsunade as she took a drink form her sake.

"He'll do just fine."

000

Naruto was having fun being accepted for who he was. All the glares he was receiving came from his behavior, not his past. As Uzu Orenji, he was free of that burden for a few days. The paint he wore was borrowed from Gaara's brother. It was garanteed to not smear or wash off for 8 days. The tests were only supposed to last five, tops, as they video taped the performance and if any lord wanted to see them, they were available, so they didn't have to wait a month like they did in Konoha. So far he liked his teammates. Yuuki was a gentle girl, not shy just withdrawn. She seemed agile, and her stride marked her as a fluid fighter, one that moves from one form to another without pause. Hiroto, on the other hand, matched his personality nearly to a T. He had a Happy-go-lucky smile with a bounce in his step. He seemed to use jokes like kunai, often. He had strutted in front of Yuuki, whistling as they went. Naruto hung back to watch them a little. He had observed them in the test before continuing to study his doodles.

After he had left Konoha, Kyuubi had taken a renewed interest in his doodles from the trip down memory lane. He had asked Naruto to try to remember them or draw new ones. Kyuubi was storing them in his portion of Naruto's mindscape. He seemed excited but Naruto was fed up with trying to get it out of him. He just did as he was told.

He brought himself out of his pondering when they halted. The proctor leaped into a tree and spoke above them.

"Your next test is terrain. Each of you come forward to receive your scroll. You may not show your scroll to your teammates. They will have instructions on them. One of the three scrolls your team receives will have this symbol, " She showed them a cloud with three swirls. "You may not let your team know whether you have it or not. You must reach the end with three scrolls of this symbol. At the end of this test, the third will start automatically. Now come and get your scrolls."

Everyone moved forward to accept their scroll.

000

Yuuki looked at her scroll. It had a map on it with two crosses, one where she was now and one where she assumed she was supposed to end up. She was the team member to get the symbol.

There were also instructions on the side:

_Place the five scrolls in the rock_

_If your teammates touch the top before you, you will not continue_

_Do not tell your teammates what your instructions are_

Yuuki stared at them, thinking. It was several exercises at once. She had a mission to perform without her teammate's knowledge, but with their help. She sighed as she was joined by her teammates. Orenji spoke first.

"Well, we might as well find a spot to sit and talk before we plunge in." Hiroto grinned.

"Works for me, buddy." Yuuki just nodded. They all leaped onto a rock ledge.

000

Naruto sat across from his teammates. He couldn't show them his scroll but he could re-draw the map on it. The majority of the terrain was mountainous and rock. They would either fish or eat what they had on them. He drew in the bit of the dirt on the rock under their feet. Yuuki sat on the ground next to him and looked over his shoulder. Hiroto sat on a nearby boulder. Sitting was a relative word in this instance. Hiroto was leaning against the rock wall with a kunai twirling in his hand. Naruto knew he was paying attention, although it took some observation before he saw through the act. Yuuki was kneeling on the dry ground next to him and staring at the map he had drawn, making changes or adding things as she saw fit. He sighed.

"Alright, so we each have a task right? Can we get them done on the way to our destination?" They had already confirmed that they had the same destination. His job was near the end. He had to get all five scrolls "in the rock" which he assumed would be at the end of the journey. At their nods, Hiroto continued.

"Then lets head there and grab scrolls on our way. We can do it!" Naruto nodded affirmative. Yuuki looked thoughtful.

"Before we go, we should get a slight feel for each other." Hiroto shrugged.

"I'm pretty simple, I like fire." Naruto saw his silly smile cause Yuuki to return with a smile of her own. He smiled himself.

"I'm actually more used to trees, but I tend to have more than enough power to spare and just plow through." Naruto saw Hiroto looked at him evenly for a moment then smirk. They were very similar. Both were used to hiding behind a very large smile and carefree facade. Yuuki smiled gently.

"I tend to use stealth. My techniques are water and ice variety. I also tend to never run out of power." Naruto saw her grin and realized she had understood both her teammates. It was interesting that they had been placed together. He sensed that none of them were accepted in their village for the most part. Imagine three outcasts working together. He slapped the ground.

"Lets go! We'll use stealth for a while." Hiroto nodded as Yuuki stood. They all leaped off.

000

Sakura nodded to her teammates as they all leaped towards their target. They had agreed to hunt down teams as they went. They had found one "team" consisting of two people and defeated them easily. Kiba and Temari worked well together while Sakura held back slightly observing. Eventually she figured out their strategy and helped her teammates to defeat them. They had one more team to find. Sakura was going to heal Akamaru when they stopped for the night.

000

They stopped at a spring to refil their water bottles. Hiroto stayed in the tree on alert while Yuuki and Orenji filled all their water bottles. They had been attacked earlier and Yuuki had used the water in their water bottles.

--_Flashback_--

The three of them were heading for the target when Orenji leaped towards Hiroto, crashing into his torso. They tumbled out of the tree's canopy, dodging a rain of shuriken. Yuuki landed next to them as three shinobi landed on the trees around them. All three shinobi brought out their kunai in response. They paired off in one on one battles for a few moments before Hiroto smashed into Orenji's opponent. During the distraction Yuuki shot a kunai at Hiroto's opponent as two Oranji tripped her's, he had made clones of himself at the beginning of the battle. With one taken care of temporarily Yuuki looked around and saw that they had moved and that their were kunai traps surrounding them. She glanced back at her teammates. They each had a water bottle.

"Toss your water bottles here!" She opened hers as each boy took a second in their battles to do as she requested. Closing her eyes she summoned her control that had taken her years of practice. She opened her eyes to see Orenji trip the first of the traps. Both pairs of eyes widened as both boys realized there were two dozen kunai heading for them. A second later a sheet of ice came between them and stopped the kunai. Orenji's attention was abruptly grabbed by his opponent as Hiroto looked back to Yuuki to see her moving fluidly, the water following in the air. The ice melted, dropping the kunai as it joined its mates around Yuuki.

She continued to catch the kunai as the traps were tripped. She was concentrating that she didn't see the third, forgotten opponent get up. He leaped for her as she turned. She only saw him for a split second when a foot collided with his face. Hiroto gave her a thumbs up as two Orenji landed next to her explaining he would keep an eye on this opponent. She smiled as she continued to freeze kunai as they came.

--_End Flashback_--

They had gained a scroll, which they decided she should carry. All the writing had disappeared except the symbol once they had opened it. She supposed that only the receiver should read it. She had confirmed her suspicions that both her teammates were not only powerful fighters, but good shinobi. They had acted like a team instead of fighting one on one and trying to one up each other. They had found a cave and built a fire. Well, you couldn't really call it a cave, it was a indent in the rock wall. It protected them from getting attacked from above and behind. Their spot was near a pond, which Yuuki loved. She never felt right if there wasn't water nearby. Hiroto stayed by the fire, activating a jutsu every half hour or so. She didn't see its effect but she assumed it had something to do with keeping them safe. Orenji had eaten and was meditating off to one side. She had already done that when she was in the water earlier.

She finally laid down for the night.

000

Naruto had visited Kyuubi for a breif moment before settling down. Hiroto said he would keep watch. Yuuki had fallen into a light slumber during his internal conversation. Kyuubi was teaching him to control his demon element, fire. He had an element of his own, but Kyuubi could only show him how to work fire. He said that Yuuki was using her element earlier and that was what it would be like. Naruto was good at heating things up and lessoning it but not in shaping it. He had already worked with Kyuubi's energy a lot but he had a lot to learn still. Kyuubi did teach him something useful though. He had showed him how to make a charm from his hair. This charm could be connected to Kyuubi's demon chakra. When burned, Kyuubi would know it, as well as the location of the charm. He could give these to his friends and they send him a signal if they were in trouble. Jiraiya had one already. He had made three others so far, but he wouldn't add chakra until he gave them to someone.

He leaned back against the rock wall as he went into a light slumber. Yuuki had glanced his way when he had changed positions but gone back to sleep. Naruto nodded to Hiroto and closed his eyes.

Nearly three hours later, Naruto opened his eyes and attempted to locate what had disturbed him. He saw Yuuki's eyes open and concentrating. He located the chakra source as being behind her and she was waiting for a signal from them. Hiroto was still looking at the fire but Naruto saw that his attention was no longer on it. His entire body was at the ready. Naruto locked eyes with Yuuki and both saw the other was ready. He saw her eyes blink upward and he focused that way to feel another, smaller chakra. Actually the person was simply trying to hide his chakra and succeeding for the most part. Naruto grinned slightly, apparently they weren't as protected from above as originally thought, and changed his attention to Hiroto, who was poking the fire. Looking into it, Naruto saw a firey 5. He looked at Yuuki, who had already seen it. It became a 4. Then 3. 2. 1

Yuuki rolled towards Hiroto as their fire suddenly jumped over her and surrounded their campsite. It wasn't high but it did make their attacker hesitate. Naruto had created a clone to deal with the sneaky intruder as Hiroto took his time sending the fire towards him. As the flame died down the group started to attack. As they crossed the perimeter, Naruto forced the fire higher and larger, distracting them long enough for Hiroto to attack them. Apparently he was as immune to fire as Naruto, which was quite a bit as long as he didn't stay in it long. Yuuki, on the other hand, gave it wide berth. She used long range weapons like kunai to assist. The attack was short and completely ineffective. Naruto collected another scroll, which he ended up carrying for the rest of the trip. Hiroto picked up one of the other scrolls for decoy, just in case. He was regarding Naruto with a strange look, ever since Naruto had sent a clone to help him, to which he had decided his teammate's new name was "Bushin". They decided to get another hour of sleep. Yuuki kept watch this time, saying she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon with this much fire around.

They had a fresh start at the beginning of a beautiful day several hours later.

000

Sakura had healed Akamaru during the night and they set out, needing one more scroll. They came upon a campsite totally burned out. They found three shinobi unconscious. None were fatally hurt so Sakura left them alone. They continued and kept their eyes open for the culprits. It was a bright day.

000

Tsunade was sitting and watching the video feed of the testers. Sakura, Kiba and Naruto were doing well. Her other shinobi had been defeated in the first test. She saw Naruto laughing as he traveled with his group. There were 11 teams left. Only 7 could pass this part, but there were other tests embedded in this one besides the scroll. She hoped Naruto and Kiba would figure it out. Sakura probably already had, it was her specialty. She had walked right out and whacked Jiraiya when she had seen Naruto, the idiot. While it did hide who he was, it wasn't particularly inconspicuous. They were both idiots.

000

Yuuki sighed as she saw the target. It was a mountain in the middle of an open area. The rock was about 5 feet tall with a cloud-like stone on top. There were cylindrical holes around the base. Orenji circled it, counting five.

"Maybe the scrolls go there?" Yuuki though Hiroto's idea had merit.

"They are the right size and shape." Orenji nodded.

"And we do have five." They all nodded and place them. They waited but nothing happened. Oranji looked at the rock.

"Maybe we're supposed to touch that cloud-rock-thing?" Yuuki looked at him. She thought about it. Hiroto had thought to put their scrolls in the holes and Orenji had agreed. Orenji had thought to touch it. She knew that if either of them touched it before her she wouldn't pass. However they might have the same instructions. In which case, they were at an impasse. Or not. She looked at Hiroto who had asked if he should touch it a specific way.

"Maybe we should touch it together, at the same time?" Her suggestion interrupted them as they were talking. Both looked at her before smiling.

"Yeah!"

"Good idea!"

They all clasped hands and on the count of three, they touched the cloud-shaped-rock. They then disappeared.

000

Sakura reached the stone first of her team. She had placed the two scrolls she was carrying in it immediately and turned to toss another kunai. they were being chased by the team that they had attacked for the scroll. Kiba landed beside her and placed his. They both tossed Shuriken to help Temari as she flipped over and placed the last two. They hadn't talked about it. When they had landed, it just seemed the best plan. Sakura had decided they should all touch the end at the same time. Looking at each other they reached as one and touched the top and were transported to an underground cave.

It was a relatively small cave, barely big enough for five people, though three fight okay. They figured out that much before a corner gave way and water came bursting in.

As one the group backed up. Thinking hard, Temari stopped Kiba from ricocheting around.

"If you do that it'll crumble on us!"

"We need to do something!" Sakura agreed with that idea.

"Temari, place your fan to slow down the water. Kiba, you and Akamaru dig out that wall over there." Sakura pointed to a wall that looked slightly less solid rock, "Be gentle!" Kiba snorted as he complied.

000

Hiroto looked at his companions as Yuuki shoved the water back slightly. She was already sweating. He looked at Orenji, who was thinking fast. Inside, he was in conflict. This was perfect, and yet...

--_Flashback_--

Yuuki rolled towards Hiroto as their fire suddenly jumped over her and surrounded their campsite. It wasn't high but it did make their attacker hesitate. Orenji had created a clone to deal with the sneaky intruder as Hiroto took his time sending the fire towards him. As the flame died down the group started to attack. As they crossed the perimeter, Orenji forced the fire higher and larger, distracting them long enough for Hiroto to attack them. Orenji shove Yuuki behind the fire as he leaped into it to fight. Hiroto was fighting one on one while Orenji fought the other one. Yuuki took out the third with a kunai. Hiroto was turning from his fight to help Orenji, his opponent on the ground, when he heard a shout. Orenji's clone had a hold of his opponent, who was standing up, and Yuuki's kunai was in his elbow. He sent a kick towards his opponent and made sure to knock him out this time. He looked over to see Orenji had been pushed back against the rock wall and was frantically holding off his opponent. Finally he got inside his enemies defenses and dropped a flash bomb. He leaped over his opponent and landed a solid kick to the back. Hiroto stared at him. Orenji's opponent had been more aggressive that Hiroto's, but Orenji had still kept his eye on Hiroto and helped him. He had never met someone who cared so much for his own team. Looking at Yuuki, he thought back to when she had first noticed the group approaching from behind her. She had looked at him, trusted him to protect her back. Hiroto hadn't ever had that feeling.

--_End Flashback_--

His orders had been to collect secrets. He hadn't argued. He saw how people treated Gaara. But he remembered talking to Gaara and hearing about another way to fill the void coming with having a bijuu. He had seen it in these two; caring and trust. He wanted that, if only for a little while, even if it cost him the favor of his village. He looked up and to the side. They needed more space. He looked at his teammates.

"Oi Bushin, can you block fire?" Orenji looked confused.

"I can increase and decrease it, but not control it. I might be able to block it in one direction though. What did you have in mind?" Hiroto saw his interest and trust. He sighed, he was about to loose that. He reached inside himself and started to melt through the rock shouting to Orenji to keep it from Yuuki.

000

Naruto watched as the heat wave blasted towards him and immediately pushed it back from Yuuki as her cry of fright reached his ears. He felt Kyuubi in his head, guiding him through the job as he tried to see Hiroto. What he saw brought his heart into his throat.

Hiroto was surrounded by red chakra that he recognized from his dealings with Kyuubi as demonic. He heard Kyuubi breathe a name in awe _**Suzaku...**_ Naruto sent a questioning thought to him as he forced more heat back._** Suzaku is a phoenix, ancestors to your "song birds" as I am to kitsune except foxes aren't extint and phoenix are. Suzaku is the Yanbi, fourth tail. Hiroto's a Jinchuuriki.**_ Naruto acknowledged this absently as he noticed an increase in steam in the cave. Yuuki couldn't keep all the water back and was struggling. The water was meeting the fire and evaporating. They would loose consciousness at this rate, if not from the heat, then the humidity. Hiroto had finally blasted an extra foot in the cave and started upward. Naruto understood now. This allowed extra space for the rocks he was melting loose. He wasn't about to let them crush Hiroto though, they were friends in his mind, that was enough. _Kyuubi I'm bringing your chakra out. **Understood**_ He had learned that instead of separating Kyuubi's chakra form their body he kept it around his body, he could control it directly and it wasn't as stressful on Kyuubi.

000

Yuuki looked over to see fire coming towards her. She cried out as a reflex and drew an ice barrier around her skin. When she saw Orenji keeping the fire back, she turned back to her job of keeping the water back as best she could. She wasn't succeeding much. Glancing back she saw Hiroto had released his Bijuu. She had sensed the demonic energy for a while but had left it alone for the moment, present mission being more important. She had realized that with both of their big fronts, her teammates really wanted friendship and recognition. She understood this and felt this more important than her orders to make sure her teammates didn't survive the exams. Her Mizukage had told her that she would be placed in a team with two shinobi they all wanted eliminated. She found now that she couldn't do it. She had protected them when the water had rushed in because she wanted their friendship too.

Glancing back she saw Hiroto dig upwards. The boulders would have fallen on him had Orenji not grown orange tails to move them out of the way, nine of them to be precise. She knew all the bijuu currently in power, that was Kyuubi. She had recognized the form of Suzaku earlier as well. She smiled. It was worth leaving her village to be their friends.

000

Naruto was moving the boulders out of Hiroto's way. He had seen Hiroto's surprise then true smile as he recognized his teammates assistance. Suddenly the roof gave way and water came down upon them. Hiroto yelped as it put out his fire and swept him against the wall. Yuuki shouted something about a deep breath before Naruto felt something grab his ankle. His instinctive deep breath gave him air as he was pulled under. He saw a similar thing happen to Hiroto and they were pulled through the water following Yuuki. Naruto felt Kyuubi chuckling as he was pulled out of the cave.

They surfaced in a wide part of the river. Yuuki helped them to the shore. Naruto looked at her as she gripped the sharp ledge with her claws. He did a double take as he took in her claws, scaly hands and gills.

They all settled on the ledge to wait. Naruto figured it was time to talk. Hiroto beat him to the punch.

"So... now you guys know." He was sitting off to one side. It occurred to Naruto that he hadn't noticed either of their changes in this process of escaping. He was fidgeting, trying to look non-chalant. They were stuck on this ledge for a while, until they get a sign from their proctor as to what to do next. Yuuki spoke next.

"Is your bijuu Suzaku?" Hiroto gave her a short nod. Naruto thought of a way to introduce Kyuubi gently.

"That is what Kyuubi said." Hiroto looked at him suddenly. Yuuki nodded.

"Seiryu had the same thought. I hold the six tailed dragon, Seiryu of the ice." Naruto nodded.

"I hold Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox of fire." Hiroto looked at them both, who were looking at him with a gentle smile each. They both recongized his fear. He sighed.

"Well, yeah, I got Suzaku of fire, four tailed phoenix." He grinned slightly at them "We're all bijuu?" They nodded. Yuuki looked at them and looked down.

"That does explain several things though." They nodded "Even outside our interactions." She sighed and looked into the water. "I was assigned a mission during this exam." She paused to see that neither had changed their expression, "For acceptance as a Kirgakura Shinobi I was to eliminate my teammates 'accidentally'." She heard both boys suck in breath. She was looking at her hands on her lap as she knelt on the ledge next to the water. Hiroto spoke first.

"Then why are we alive?" She smiled slightly.

"When I first saw Orenji he was tossing some jerks from my village through the door with his foot. They had caused me all sorts of trouble and no one had ever stood up to them because their fathers were very strong and powerful. Yet Orenji did so without caring who they were. I hadn't thought there were people in this world like that. During our fights neither of you abandoned me, even when it would have been safer for you to do so. I wanted...I wanted to be friends...for at least this test, I wanted friends." She had said this all in her quiet, calm voice, wavering only with the last phrase. Both boys watched her stick her feet in the water for comfort. Hiroto watched and spoke.

"Yeah, I did too. My mission here was to gather information about your villages. I gave that up after the first fight. Then the following fight really brought it home. You trusted me and cared about me. You gave me that, and I'm not the kind of guy to betray such a good gift, you know?" He smirked at them. "Gaara-san is a Jinchuuriki in my village and he's hated. They said they'd reveal mine if I didn't cooperate. I spoke with Gaara-san once. He said that there was another way to get rid of the alone thing. He said that doing what people want you to do doesn't fill the void. He said understanding people and having them understand you. That does it. That is what I want. I know it is." He was avoiding their looks as his ceeks went ruddy. Yuuki smiled slightly.

"I think being understood is something we all want, with or without the bijuu." Hiroto laughed.

"Yeah, so what about you Bushin? What's your mission?" Naruto looked at him. He had been weighing the idea of revealing himself and now he knew what to do.

"I really did just come to become a Chunnin and become stronger." Both looked at him a moment before he continued, "However, I do have one secret. My name isn't Uzu Orenji." They both looked at him, curious, "I'm Uzimaki Naruto of Konoha and someday I'll be Hokage!" He grinned his village grin at them, the one that hid himself from his village. Both of them looked at him a moment. Yuuki spoke first.

"I have heard of you Uzimaki Naruto. Your deeds have reached Kirigakura. You disappeared nearly five monthes ago though." Hiroto was just staring at him as he responded.

"Yeah, I've been training with my sensei." He was looking at Hiroto, waiting for a response. Finally Hiroto gave him one with a nod.

"It'll take some time to get used to thinking of you as Naruto, so I'll keep with Bushin, Bushin." He smiled and Naruto relaxed. They both tensed as they felt Chakra coming towards them. Naruto recognized it first.

"That's my friends." He turned to his teammates, knowing that when Jiraiya and Tsunade landed he would be off. He handed two of his charms to them. His charms were his blonde hair braided into a hair ornament. "Here, if you burn these I'll know and come. We're friends and friends help each other." They all nodded in agreement. Yuuki spoke first.

"I agree, and once you complete your training come and visit and we can train together. Here is mine, just drop it in water." Her's were scales fashioned into earrings. Luckily both boys had at least one ear peirced, Jiraiya had thought it a good experience incase Naruto had to blend as a woman. Naruto hadn't been please. Still this time it would handy. The scale was the size of his thumb nail and actually looked quite stylish. Hiroto smiled and exchanged it with one of his current earrings. Then he hand them each a metal bracelet.

"These are the same thing as Bushin's, burn 'em." The inside was metal and the outside was pattern of flaming feathers resembling knitting. Once on Naruto's wrist, it changed size to fit. His charm did the same thing, only the wearer could remove it. Yuuki smirked at them softly.

"I'd better get going. The penalty for my failure is death if caught, thus I'm in exile now. Fair thee well." Naurto turned to Hiroto after she leaped off.

"I too shouldn't stay here, I'll meet Sensei partway for both our safety. Be safe, Buddy"

"You too Bushin." They grasped each other's hands and parted. Hiroto to get yelled at in Sunakgura, and Naruto to continue his training.

000

Tsunade smiled her widest for Sakura, who had succeeded. She had given Naruto a hug and seen him off a scant hour ago. He wouldn't talk about the exam, just that he was ready to train. She was glad he had had fun. Also since both Sakura and Kiba had passed this time, they would have a party back at home and Tsunade would tell Hinata of Naruto's achievement and they would toast him too.

000

Hiroto sighed as he listened to the old buzzard drone on. He had tuned him out a while ago. The man was going to tell people he carried a bijuu. oh well.

After he was let out, he climbed one of the far walls. Predictably, Gaara was there staring across the sandy expanse. He remembered what Gaara had said. He had left out one sentence when he had told his teammates this. _Someday I will be able to give Uzimaki Naruto the proper thanks for my life, for without him I would have spent my life dead._ Hiroto had met Naruto and saw what Gaara had seen. He decided he was going to help the Jinchuuriki of his village and through that, somehow, he would feel he was giving something back to the blonde Bushin.

000

Yuuki lounged at the bottom of her pool, thinking. She was free to live her own life for a while, and yet she knew, for the first time in her life she had two people she could count on. Hiroto and Naruto would be her friends forever.

000

Naruto curled up in his blankets after a long communication with Hinata. He hadn't thought to her since the beginning of the exams so he was thrilled. So was she. He had sent her pictures of his teammates along wit his feelings of friendship and trust. He sent reassurances to her of his health and care. He saw images of all his friends back home. He knew he would dream of friends tonight.

000

Together they were friends forever

A dragon in her water

A phoenix in the sun

A fox in the forest

* * *

Orenji-orange

Uzu-swirl

Tsukiryuu-moon dragon

Yuuki-gentle radiance

Hiu-sun feather

Hiroto-command & soar

Bushin-clone i think

9/21/08: re-proofed

Next in series: The Hawk and The Fox /s/4482015/1/

Six months after Naruto left, Hinata finds out several things about her family.


End file.
